


Second Chances

by Kyuubiluver342



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Gun Violence, M/M, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 06:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyuubiluver342/pseuds/Kyuubiluver342
Summary: Akechi’s eyes snapped open and for a second, all he could do was stare at the ceiling. It was 6/10 all over again. Someone had given him a new chance at life.





	Second Chances

 

Akechi’s eyes snapped open and for a second, all he could do was stare at the ceiling. His breaths came out harsh and shallow and for just a split second, he feared he would have a panic attack. Slowly, his heart calmed down and he was able to sit up, staring blankly at the floor before him. His mind raced and then stopped. He pulled up his shirt and searched for the bullet wounds that should be there, searched for the wounds that had finally taken his life, but they weren’t there. All he saw was clear skin.

A bleeping caught his attention and he scrambled for his phone, shutting his alarm off at the same time checking the date. The numbers before him mocked him and he could only stare. The date was 6/10, the day he had come face to face with Akira and the Phantom Thieves for the first time. His mouth was dry, his mind was empty and all he could do was sit there. It couldn’t be. How could this be? He placed the phone down, lest he break it with how hard he was holding it.

“Something has happened here.” he whispered.

Like a robot, he got up and dressed, not really processing anything until he got to the station. It was like he was on autopilot, not really paying attention to what was going on around him until he saw him. Akira was helping move some cables alongside Ryuji and there was a sudden urge to charge at him and demand what the hell was going on. Instead, he held back, even when their eyes locked in the audience some time later on.

The half smirk he got told him everything and he had to choke back his desire to ask him what was going on in front of the whole audience. Instead, they did their little dance, Akechi asking him questions about the Phantom Thieves and Akira replying in his usual defiant fashion. When it was time for the break, Akechi raced to the spot where he knew the Thieves would meet. After hearing Morgana talk of pancakes, he stepped out of hiding.

He saw the suspicious look Ryuji gave him, the confused look that Ann shot him, but his eyes were only on Akira, who just watched him, those charcoal eyes had him pinned in place. As he walked away, he heard Ryuji complaining and tightened his grip on his bag. As the day went on, he found himself distracted. Something had happened, someone had changed the course of history and now he didn’t know what to do. His phone chirruped and he glanced at it.

Unknown: Meet me tonight at LeBlanc

Akechi stared at the number before replying.

Akechi: Who is this?

Unknown: I changed you fate and that’s all you have to say?

Unknown: Pity.

Akechi froze before agreeing. The day passed in a blur and when it was finally time, he made his way over to Cafe LeBlanc. Standing outside, was Akira and Morgana and for a moment, Akechi paused. All day, his mind had tried to come to terms with what was going on and the only thing he could think of was he needed answers.

“Finally showed up, huh?” Akira asked lightly.

Akechi nodded. He was on shaky ground and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure what to do. Akira jerked his head.

“Let’s take a walk.” Akira stated.

They walked to the station and then went to the park, where they found a quiet place to talk. Akira sat down, but Akechi couldn’t get himself to sit. Instead, he crossed his arms.

“What did you do?” Akechi demanded.

Akira eyed him and there was something so simple about his glance. It made Akechi uncomfortable.

“What do you mean?” Akira asked.

Akechi had to stop himself from gritting his teeth.

“I mean, my last memory is of being shot to death on Shido’s Cruiser, yet I woke up this morning, on the same day I met you at the TV station and you clearly still have your memories of it, but Ryuji-kun and Ann-san don’t. So what did you do?” Akechi demanded.

Akira sat there for the longest time, staring at him before looking down.

“After you died, we fought Shido. It was hard, probably the hardest fight we had ever had. We worked hard and finally took him down, but afterwards the victory was bittersweet. All I could think about was how sad your words made me and how if I had tried a little harder to reach you, maybe we could have fixed something.” Akira paused.

Morgana coughed and sat on the ground.

“It was Akira’s idea. He found a Persona called Norn. With that Persona, Akira decided to try and start over, but the Persona wasn’t strong enough to go all the way back. This was as far back as it could go.” Morgana stated.

Akechi found himself sitting down and swallowing hard. His hands were shaking and he wasn’t sure what to do with them, so he just clasped them together.

“But why? Why did you do this? I killed you! I tried to kill your friends!” Akechi demanded.

Akira placed a hand on his shoulder and Akechi flinched. He wasn’t sure what to make of this kindness.

“I know you did and I know you would probably do it again right now if given the chance, but I want to change that. Don’t think of me as selfless, I did it purely for my own sanity. The idea that we didn’t help you, that we left you behind to die alone nagged at me. I couldn’t live with that burden.” Akira explained.

He stood up and Akechi felt the hand leave his shoulder. The cold he felt afterwards was odd.

“I’m not going to try and change you, hell I didn’t even know you would still remember everything. But I hope your second chance gives you some time to think about what you did. And maybe change some of it if you can.” Akira finished.

Akira turned to leave and Akechi felt out of control, wild, like a mad man. Loki was whispering in his ear and before he could think twice, he grabbed Akira’s sleeve. He felt as surprised about it as Akira looked and he swallowed.

“I can’t change what I have already done. I can’t fix that. How can you accept someone like me?” Akechi asked.

There was a desperation there, something he had felt a few times before, but never to this extent. Akira’s next answer could make or break him.

“You’re right, you can’t and what you’ve done is unforgivable, but you can fix it and you can make up for it. Help us stop Shido, help us put an end to him and his schemes. And then give yourself up. He has ruined too many lives for this to continue, but I need you to work with us and not against us. If you can’t do that, at least stay out of our way.” Akira explained.

Akechi stared at him, his grip on his sleeve releasing. Akira watched him, Morgana too and then Akechi laughed. It was harsh and broken, like he was choking on it instead of really laughing. He felt the tears gather and while he wanted nothing more than to turn away and hide them, Akira’s stare had him pinned and he could do nothing, but weep. Gently, he felt himself being embraced and he really should have pushed him away, so why did his hands cling to the back of Akira’s shirt so tightly?

It was some time later that he calmed down and by that point, Akira had sat them back down and was looking at the sky. It was late, they shouldn’t even be out, but Akechi couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“So what happens now?” he asked.

“Like I said before, it depends on you. You either work with us or stay out of our way.” Akira replied.

“And if I decide to keep working with Shido?” he asked boldly.

“Then we’ll take you down with him.” Akira locked eyes with him and Akechi was the one to break it.

Akechi stood up and Akira stood up as well. He swallowed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“I need some time.” Akechi finally said.

Akira nodded.

“We are working to take down Kaneshiro next and adding Makoto to our team. It wouldn’t be too odd if we added two members instead of one. Just think about that.” Akira said.

With a wave, he walked off and Akechi was left alone. He walked home in silence.

 

The next few days were a blur of activity. He focused on keeping up his facade that he had going, but it was hard. Shido was calling him almost all the time now, wondering if he was keeping an eye on the Thieves and while a part of him wanted to tell the man to go to hell, that would be a good way to end up dead. So, he kept pacifying him with excuses, but he knew it wouldn’t hold up forever.

And then one day, he stood outside of LeBlanc, just trying to gather his courage when Akira almost walked into him. Their eyes locked and Akira smiled.

“Hello again.” Akira said.

“Can we talk? Privately?” Akechi asked.

Akira moved out of the way and he walked inside. The owner, Sojiro, gave him a funny look, but Akira just explained he was here for a interview for school and Sojiro left them alone. They walked upstairs and Akechi sat on the sofa.

“I’m assuming Makoto-san is now a part of your group?” he asked politely.

“Finished Kaneshiro’s palace yesterday. We are just waiting for the announcement.” Akira stated.

Morgana curled up on the bed and made himself comfortable. Akechi nodded and looked at the floor.

“Shido-san has been calling me non-stop. I haven’t told him anything about you all so far and he will be extremely displeased when he finds out Kaneshiro has had a change of heart.” Akechi explained.

“Was this when you all really started plotting against us?” Akira asked.

“Yes, around this time we started to plant the seeds for Okumura. He was getting to be a nusicane and we decided you all would be the best way to take care of him.” Akechi admitted.

God, just talking about it was making him feel disgusting. Had he really talked about murdering a man so simply? So easily? He really must have lost his mind.

“What’s your choice then?” Akira asked, arms crossed.

It was now or never. Akechi would never get a second chance like this.

“I want to fix this. Please, let me be a Phantom Thief!” Akechi asked desperately, but boldly.

Akira smiled and held out his hand. Akechi stared at it before taking it.

“We’ll have to talk to the others. I have an idea, but you need to work with me on it, ok?” Akira explained.

“Of course. I will let you lead on this one...Leader.” Akechi said, testing the word out on his tongue.

Akira gave him a smile and his chest felt light. Maybe this would work out for the best. Akira pulled out his phone and started to type. His phone started to buzz off the hook, but he managed to keep it under control.

“They are on their way. I told them it was an emergency meeting.” Akira stated.

“How are you going to explain this?” Morgana asked.

“Just watch.” he said sweetly.

Soon enough, they heard Ryuji, Ann, Makoto and Yusuke downstairs.

“They can come up!” Akira called.

Ryuji was the first one to appear, but when he saw Akechi, he stopped dead, making the others yell at him.

“The hell is he doing here!” Ryuji yelled.

“Ryuji, move!” Ann yelled, pushing him out of the way.

The others came up, but stopped dead, staring at him. He gave a little wave.

“Hello.” he said pleasantly.

“I once again go back to, the hell is he doing here!” Ryuji snapped.

“Wait, is this the emergency you were talking about?” Makoto asked, eyes darting between them.

“That’s right. Looks like we were found out.” Akira said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“WHAT!” the other four yelled.

“Well, to be fair, you all aren’t very sneaky.” Akechi stated.

He saw where Akira was going with this. If it made it look like Akechi had found out on his own, they would have to accept him. Makoto seemed very uneasy about the whole thing, same as Yusuke, but Ryuji looked pissed.

“So what, you’re gonna blackmail us or something? We know about how you feel about us.” Ryuji demanded.

“Actually, I came here to ask to join you.” Akechi stated.

“HUH?” the group yelled.

“Will you all stop yelling up there! This is a cafe, you know!” Sojiro yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

Akira sighed.

“Will everyone please sit down and stop yelling? Sojiro is getting upset and I need a place to sleep tonight.” Akira demanded.

Ann grabbed a seat on the bed while Ryuji snagged a chair. Yusuke stood by the window while Akira and Makoto grabbed the last two seats. Akechi let out a cough and caught Akira’s eye.

“Admittedly, in the past, I have called your actions into question and I do admit that I am still not completely sure how you do what you do, but I realized something recently and that is this: no one else is going out of their way to help people. These changes of hearts that you all have done have changed our society and if I want to see the world become a better place, I am certainly not doing it on the police force. So please, I implore you to accept me and help me grow into a better person.” Akechi said.

He could see Makoto taking his words apart very carefully. Ann seemed unsure while Ryuji scowled. Yusuke just looked out the window. Ryuji turned to Akira.

“What do you think?” Ryuji demanded.

Akira looked over his team.

“We could use another member. Besides, having someone inside the police force could help us keep on our toes and find better targets.” Akira explained.

“True and it would be a good idea to have a better understanding of what happens to the criminals after their change of heart. Plus help keep an eye on Sis when I’m not around.” Makoto muttered.

“I don’t know.” Ann said.

They all looked at her.

“I mean we don’t even know if he can...you know.” Ann waved her hand vaguely.

“If he has a Persona?” Morgana asked.

Akechi made his eyes widened and he jumped a little.

“Um, I’m sorry, but did the cat just…?” Akechi asked, pointing.

“Wait, he can hear Morgana?” Yusuke asked.

“He must have been dragged into the Metaverse somehow.” Ryuji said in awe.

“Metaverse? I’m afraid you’ve lost me, but none of you seem freaked out about the cat, so I am assuming this is something you all can hear?” Akechi asked.

Akira gave him a smirk and Akechi sighed. If he had to play dumb a bit, that’s fine. He’s done that before and if it helped them accept him easier, that’s fine too. He sat back a little and watched them interact.

“I don’t even know where to begin with the Metaverse, but if you can hear Morgana, then you’ve passed through it at least once. In that case, it might be easier to show you.” Makoto explained.

“Show me?” Akechi parroted.

Before he knew what was happening, they were standing at the gates of the Mementos. As he looked around, he wondered what happened now. He was still in normal clothes, but how was he supposed to call his Persona? He glanced at Akira, who just eyed him.

“This place…” Akechi muttered.

“Welcome to the Mementos.” Makoto stated.

“Mementos?” he looked at them in turn.

“Your clothes.” he said in fake surprise.

“This is where we do the change of heart.” Yusuke stated, adjusting his mask.

“I see…” Akechi trailed off.

Makoto then proceeded to explain to him all about it as they drove through one of the higher and weaker areas.

“We don’t want you to get hurt after all.” Yusuke explained.

Akechi hated that he felt touched by their concern, despite the fact that his Persona could easily wipe the floor with anything on this level. They, of course, didn’t know that. As they drove however, Morgana suddenly stopped.

“Oh no! We need to leave, like right now!” Morgana said turning tail.

“H-Hey! Mona, what gives?” Ryuji yelped.

“It’s a reaper, we need to move!” Morgana yelled.

Reaper? He had never seen a reaper during his time. Looking back, he could see the thing chasing them.

“Shit, this is bad!” Ryuji snapped.

“Mona, can’t you go any faster?” Ann begged.

“I’m trying!” Morgana yelled.

Morgana’s wheel hit a bump and they went flying. Morgana hit the ground and the car disappeared, making the others go flying. Akira grabbed Akechi and held him, keeping him from hitting the ground. As the reaper closed in, he could hear the concerned and scared muttering of the group as they got to their feet. The reaper was closing in on them and he could tell they were really freaked out about it. 

Ryuji was the first to attack, but he got swatted away like a fly. Yusuke and Makoto tried for a duo attack, but it easily dodged them both. Ann tried to burn it while Morgana upped her fire power, but nothing happened. And then Akira was up. Pulling forth his strongest Persona, even Akechi could tell he was not used to being so weak.

“Joker!” everyone yelled as he was thrown to the ground.

They were in danger. If Akechi didn’t do something soon, they would be completely wiped out. 

“Do you wish to protect them?” his Persona hissed.

“Yes.” he replied.

“Very well then. Call upon me. I am thou.” Loki stated.

“Thou art I!” Akechi whispered.

His mask came first and then everything else did. For a moment, he was distorted, but then he looked down. His red and white outfit looked so odd to him now.

“What?” he muttered.

“Whoa! What the hell! You have a Persona too?” Ryuji yelled.

For a second, he looked back, excepting to see Robin Hood, but Loki stood behind him. He was confused, he was uncertain, but right now, he could not waver.

“Let us go, Loki!” he yelled.

The reaper was no push over, but all together, they managed to bring it down. It was still hard and Akechi found himself heavily leaning towards his more brutal attacks, but in the end, they managed to emerge victorious. Akechi leaned heavily on his sword, panting as they all struggled to get to their feet. Morgana turned into his car form and they all piled in.

“Can we go home now?” Ann whined.

“If we could, please. I am exhausted.” Yusuke muttered.

“But man, did you see him go!” Ryuji yelled, slapping Akechi on the back.

“Ah, thank you.” Akechi said fixing his mask.

“Yes, you were quite skilled for your first battle.” Makoto commented, eying him from the rear view mirror.

“I took some fencing lessons as a child. Never thought they would come in handy like this though.” Akechi said rubbing his shoulder.

“That’s a crazy Persona you’ve got there too!” Ryuji laughed.

“Yes, well, I suppose I am lucky.” he said sweating.

God, he had forgotten how hot this suit was. They made it back to the entrance of Mementos and left. As they all stopped at Cafe Leblanc, Makoto spoke.

“I must admit, I have to agree with Akira on this. Akechi-kun will be a great addition to our group, however.” Here she got in his face and pointed her finger at his nose.

“If you do anything to cause harm to anyone in this group, I will personally come after you.” she declared.

He smiled and took a step back.

“I promise, all I care about is justice.” he said holding up his hands.

She seemed to stare at him a bit longer before nodding. Most of the group left after that and Akira turned to Akechi with a look.

“That went...better than expected.” Akechi muttered.

Akira just gave a shrug.

“They’ll get used to you. Just give it time.” Akira stated.

Akechi nodded and looked at him. He wasn’t really sure how well this would work out and he wasn’t sure he deserved a second chance, but maybe, just maybe they could make this work.


End file.
